Trigger release toggle clamp



March 6, 1951 J/A. KIRK 2,544,329

TRIGGER RELEASE TOGGLE CLAMP Filed Feb. 21, 1947 Patented Mar. 6,

James A. Kirk, East Walpole, Mass, assignon to. James AgKirh and GeorgeE. Young, copart-i ners;X doin husiness as. Kirk Qt liming: Ma hineGothas Walpole Mass 7 en age naw 21, we than can 1 This, inventionrelates to a toggle clamp of the type adapted, to be held in the handand to grip small work pieces; Itis an' object of the invention, toprovide a clamp of this variety having a trigger release by theactuationof which the toggle lock can be readily broken to release anarticle gripped by the clamp.

'5 Another object of the invention is to provide aclamp soshaped as to.facilitate the manipulatron thereof, the shape including a hand gripwhich may be in the form of a conventional pis :o'l' g ip-adapted to fitin the hand of the operaor. v f- For-a more complete understandingof thein.-.. vent-ion; reference may be had to the following descriptionthereof, "and to the drawing, of which?- j I j Figure l, is a sideelevation oi an embodiment of the invention, a portion being; brokenaway to show-in section; I 7 Figure 2 is a front end elevation of thesame;

Figure 3 is a front end elevation of a modified form of the invention;

Fi e 4 is a section on the. line 44 of Fi ure 1;

Figure; 5 is a side, elevation of the. clamp shown in Figure 1, theclamping jaws being open;

Figure 61s, a fragmentary side. elevation of another modified form ofthe invention; F Figure 7 is an elevation of a pair of toggle pliershavinga toggle release device thereon. As shown inFigures l and 5,theinvention; may

embodied in a device which includes a member l6 havinga boretheiethrough. Integral with this; member is a work engaging jaw l2; anda hand grip H which may be in the formoifa conventional' pistol -grip.-ooperating with the clamp jaw l2 isan opposing jaw l6 which is on an endof a rod :l8. This rod fits slidably in the bore of the clamp member Illand projects from the further end thereof. The projecting portion 20 isscrew threaded- Mounted on the screw thread d portion 2|] is aninternally threaded sleeve 22 and a lock nut 24. Projecting down fromthe sleeve 22 are a pair of ears 26 which are pivotally connectedto atoggle link 28 as at 36. A second togglelink 32 is pivoted at 34 to theclamp member' HL the link 32 being composed preferably of two parallelstrips which are 9h .either side of the member ID. The toggle links 28and 32 are pivotally connected to each other at 36 to form a togglejoint.

The toggle link 28 is made with an elongated extension 40 which projectsbeyond the toggle joint 36 and is shaped to fit against the handleClaims (01:. infi ld) gr p 14 so ast act as n, ratin l v r to. close thetoggle. As is evidentfrom Figures. l and 5 the fingers or the handinwhich the hand grip i4 is grasped can convenientlyextend about. theoperating'lever 46iwhich can then be, actuated to rock the toggle link28 so as to close the, toggle'. that is, to cause the toggle pivot 36 tomove. up across the line of centers of the pivots 36 and 34. Suchmovement of the toggle results in forcing the sleeve 22 toward theright. This in turn forces the rod I58 and] they clamp jaw F6 to. theright, thus causingth e jaw 1.6 tofmove toward the jaw I2. In this way awork; piece can be enemy; and easily clamped'between the jaws "i6 and[2; with a firm grip. In'oider to adjust. the space/between the jawswand IE2; tov aeoommoa date work pie'ce's'of diiierent sizes, the jawI16 and the rod [8 may be rotated. The threaded eh'gagem-cnt'between theend portion, 20 of the rod i8 and the sleeve 22 results in axialadjustmeht of'the rod to the right or to the left. The lock" nut 24 isthen set up against. the outerend of'the sleeve 22so as to lock the rodl8 against rotation and also to take the forward thrust; of the sleevewhen the toggle is closed. As ind-i.- cated in Figure 2, the jaws l6 andF2 are pretenably circular so that adjustments between the jaws can bemade toa vjery fine degree. by ad, justive rotation or? the jaw l6through small an.-

gles." If preferred, the work engaging; jaws may be of square shape asindicated at 42 in Figure 3 or maybe of any other preferred shape. Wherea square shape is employed, adjustments of the spacing'between the jawsmust be by quarter turns of-thejaw 42 if the-rodwhich carriesthe jaw isin screw threaded engagement with the sleeve 22 as shown inFigure 1.Such threaded engagement with the sleeve is, however, not essential. Ifthe sleeve is not threaded, it has a limited range of, movement withrespect to the rod [8, its movement toward the adjacent end of the rodbeing limited by the nut 24, in which case the adjusting can be done bymeans of the nut 24 without rotation of the rod l8.

One of the further objects of the invention is to provide meansforfacilitating the opening of the clamp by breaking the toggle when itis desired to release the work piece gripped therein. For this purposethe toggle link 32 is extended beyond the joint 36, the extension 44being shaped v to act as a releasing lever. For this purpose theparallel strips constituting the link 32 are joined at a point beyondthe link 28, the extremity being shaped as at 46 into the form of atrigger on which can be hooked the forefinger of the operators hand. Forthis purpose the extension 44 is bent or curved downward so that thetrigger will extend roughly parallel to the operating lever 49. Thus,when the lever 40 is pulled toward the left, the toggle is moved to itsclosed position and when the trigger 46 is pulled toward the left thetoggle is broken as in Figure 5. This provides for a rapid operation ofthe toggle clamp when it is being used, for example, to hold asuccession of simi-- lar articles upon which a given operation is to beperformed. For articles of a uniform size, no adjustment of the spacingbetween the jaws l6 and I2 need be made after the spacing has beenadjusted to the first such article.

Instead of extending the link 32 to form a trigger 46 as shown inFigures 1 and 5, a short link 48 may be employed as shown in Figure 6,the toggle breaking device in this case consisting of a trigger 59 whichis the long arm of a bell crank pivoted as at 52 to the operating lever40. The short arm 54 of the bell crank engages against the forwardsurface of the handle grip 56 so that when the trigger 59 is pulled, thearm 54 pushes against the hand grip 59 and forces the lever 49 awaytherefrom, thus breaking the toggle.

Figure 6 also illustrates a clamping device by which the trigger clampcan be mounted on a table or shelf so that it need not be supported bythe-hand of the operator. In such case, the hand grip S is'provided witha suitable opening into which can project from below a bolt 58 toreceive thereon a nut 99. The bolt 58 projects vertically from a block62 which is the upper j aw of a suit able screw clamp 64 by which thedevice is clamped to the edge of a table 66 or the like. By removing thenut 69, the toggle clamp can readily be detached fromthesupporting-clamp so as to be used as a hand clamp.

- The toggle breaking device illustrated in Figure 6 is shown in Figure7 as applied to a pair of toggle pliers, the pliers themselves being oldin the art. As shown, the trigger 50 is pivoted as at 52 to an extension19 of a toggle "link I2 which is pivotally connected as at 14 to anothertoggle link'16, the latter being pivoted as at 18 to one of the clampmembers 89. The short arm 54 of the bell crank of which the trigger 59is a part bears against an edge surface of the clamp member 89 so thatwhen the trigger 5|] is pulled, it forces the lever away from the clampmember 80 so as to break the toggle joint. The other clamp member 82 ispivoted to the clamp member 80 as at 84 and is pivotally connected tothe link 12 as at 86, the structure and operation of this form of toggleclamp being well known.

I claim:

1. A toggle clamp comprising a member having a bore therethrough, a rodextending slidably and rotatably through said bore, clamp jaws on saidmember and rod respectively, a sleeve screw-threaded on a projectingportion of said rod remote from said jaws, a toggle joint connectingsaid member and sleeve, said joint consisting of toggle links pivotedrespectively to said member and said sleeve and pivoted to each other,and an extension on one of said links beyond the common pivot serving asan operating lever.

2. A toggle clamp comprising a member havinga tubular portion with acircular work-engaging jaw at one end thereof and a hand grip projectinglaterally therefrom, a rod slidably and rotatably fitted in said tubularportion, said rod having on one end thereof a circular work-engaging jawopposed to the jaw on said member, a sleeve on and in screw-threadedengagement with said rod beyond said tubular portion of said member, aknurled lock-nut on said rod beyond said sleeve, and toggle meansconnected to said member and sleeve and operable to push said sleeve soas to draw said jaws closer together.

3. A toggle clamp comprising-a member having a clamping jaw and a handleportion having a-size and shape like a pistol grip, an elongated axiallymovable member arranged with respect to the handle as a pistol barrel toits grip, said elongated member having a clamping jaw movable therewithtoward and from the first said jaw, toggle means for operating saidjaws, said toggle means comprising two levers each pivoted at one end tosaid members respectively and pivoted to each other to form a togglejoint, the other end portion of one said lever being movable intojuxtaposition with said handle to straighten the toggle, the other endportion of the other said lever resembling a pistol trigger in its shapeand position relative to said handle.

JAMES A. KIRK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 495,793 Fletcher Apr. 18, 1893 r514,752 Humphrey Feb. 13, 1894 952,079 McIntire Mar. 15, 1910 1,875,736Johnson Sept. 6, 1932 2,112,193 Geddes Mar. 22, 1938 2,391,604 WallaceDec. 25, 1945 2,453,041 Sharp Nov. 2, 1948

